Sunday, April 27, 2008

When I was in high school, I, like many people, considered myself very cutting-edge and cool to be able to quote the New Jersey trilogy (Clerks., Mallrats, Chasing Amy) at the drop of a hat. So much profanity! So many gratuitous sexual references!

These days, I consider myself a bit more on the objective side, but I'll be the first to admit that I'll always be a bit biased on the pro-View Askew productions side. I still love Clerks. as much as I did, though I no longer dream of being able to drop a ridic amount of money to order and ship this shirt to me.

In recent years, it's become harder and harder to justify my generally positive sentiments toward Mr. Smith. Beginning with Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, his career decisions have been...questionable, to put it politely. When a Smith-phile such as myself momentarily forgets that she even saw Clerks II (hey, in my defense, Smith's own website seems to want to pretend like it, along with 2004's syrupy Jersey Girl, never even happened), you know that something has gone awry. Not only this, but he's somehow veered into "supporting comic relief" roles, acting in movie that he himself didn't even pen. I mean, not that I begrudge a comic geek as vocal as Smith the chance to act in the Daredevil movie, but his acting skills have always been touch-and-go, and reading lines that he didn't write has just never worked well for him.

Okay.

All that being said, am I wrong for getting a little bit excited at the prospect of Silent Bob getting back on track?

Meet the newest View Askew production, titled, as you may have guessed, Zack and Miri Make A Porno.

The plot follows two friends who, nearly broke, decide to turn to the adult film industry as a way to make money fast. As one could guess, the uber-romantic vibes of shooting porn lead them to realize they might actually be harboring feelings for each other.

No disrespect meant to Seth Rogan, but as you can see, the casting follows the Smith tradition of having gorgeous leading ladies ultimately hooking up with...less than stellar-looking leading men. (Ben Affleck aside, I suppose.) Fingers crossed that this doesn't end up mirroring the uptight-girl/childlike-man dynamic of Rogan's last starring outing, Knocked Up.

Call me a hopeless optimist, but I'm getting good feelings from this one. As we've got several months until it's release, God knows when we'll get a trailer released, but the talent pool is good, and Smith has had a good two years to recharge the creative batteries. Along with this, Smith's following project is, believe it or not, a horror movie called...wait for it...Red State. I can get on board with that.